The 3DS tile I've probably been asked more about than any other finally got its time to shine during today's Nintendo Direct event. Animal Crossing: New Leaf now has a release date, and a fancy new trailer to boot. Look forward to the new Animal Crossing game starting June 9, exclusively for the Nintendo 3DS.

For those unfamiliar, Animal Crossing puts you into a village of anthropomorphic animals and sets you to any number of tasks, typically to the purpose of paying off your huge loan debts to that dastardly raccoon Tom Nook. New Leaf changes the pace a bit, making you major of the your village as soon as you arrive. There's still a small loan to pay off initially, but otherwise you're encourage to jump in an begin customizing your experience straight off the bat.

In addition to the new footage shown below, there's gameplay shown in the latest Nintendo Direct (around 18:15) that shows off some of the great customization options players will have for both their character and their house -- they even make a castle. Then, players can take their customized homes and share them via StreetPass with the new Happy Home Showcase feature.

Animal Crossing has always been a fan favorite title and New Leaf looks to be one of the best entrants in the series yet. It's rather sad it has taken so long for the game to be localized from Japan, but I'm certain the wait will be worth it. Again, look forward to Animal Crossing: New Leaf on June 9 for the Nintendo 3DS.

Now it's time to seriously mull over a town name and my character name lol. Whoo hoo! I wonder if a players guide will come out at the same time too. It would be nice to have that to look things up. (like who likes what in their coffee)